Final Moments
by Maxy Steel
Summary: Carrot's POV during a part of the last quarter of "Prelude to Ruin". Rating for some language, emotional distress, violence, and character death.


_Disclaimer: Sorcerer/Bakuretsu Hunters is not mine. I'd like it to be, cause then there'd be a lot more Marron/Gateau stuff. *grinnnn? But alas, I don't own it. Woe be I. Have fun reading!   
  
Warnings: Angst. Death. Brotherly love. 'Nuff said._   
  


**FINAL MOMENTS   
BY:   
Maxy Steel**

  
Blue flames. That's all I can see. I'm dimly aware of the others around me, but just barely. Just beyond the ring of cerulean fire eveloping our five, in those few instants when the flames lowered, I can see him. His cold, self-satisfied smile. So confident, so certain that he would attain his goal. If I'd been able to move, I'd have clenched a hand in anger. But I was frozen. Not by any sort of spell, but fear, coursing through my veins. The memories, our past. Dimly, I hear a scream, my own, as I fall. Not physically, but mentally, straight into the depths of my own soul. The blue fire vanishes, replaced by a cold void of black. I stand there, trying to figure out how to get back to reality, when I sense it. Something glowing, pulsing with a strange light, behind me. Slowly, I turn. Instinctively, I know that the creature I face was the Destruction God. My first thought is that he doesn't look that frightening. For a destroyer of worlds, he looks like an elderly grandfather. Well, combined with a goat. Perhaps because he is intwined with my soul, and has been with me since my birth, I'm not sure, but I don't fear him. His eyes are closed, his face a gentle smile. The light he emits is a soft whitish yellow. Faintly, like I'd had cotton shoved in my ears, I could hear Chocolate and Tira screaming my name. The light surrounding the Destruction God turns firey red, and grows brighter. Rapidly, I take several steps back, fear starting to blossom in my chest. The God glows more, and I quicken my retreat. Something cool, smooth, and unyielding slams up against my back. Whipping around, I found myself facing a clear wall that I'd swear is made of glass. I spin back around to observe the creature behind me. The Destruction God appears to be feeding off something going on outside my body, as well as my own rising fear at what the creature intends to do. I already know that this being has caused the destruction of an entire world before, and that knowledge terrifies me as the God appears to draw strength from what's going on outside this dark cavern I'm trapped in.   
_ "Carrot, it's okay. I love you, Carrot,"_ suddenly echoes around, clear as if the speaker were standing beside me, whispering in my ear. At the same time, I feel a presence at my back. Whirling, I gladly take in the sight of Marron. The smile that had sprung to my lips dies as I take in his near frantic air, worried expression, and the fact that he's on the other side of the glass.   
"Marron!" I exclaim, pressing my hands to the barrier. He brings his up on the other side, doing his best to give me a comforting smile. The tinge of fear in his eyes makes the expression all but useless. What's going on outside?   
_ "Don't be scared. I promise you, there's nothing to be afraid of..."_ I hear him again, watching his lips move in time with the softly spoken words. Scared? I know I should be. Something almost beyond my control is trying to happen within my own body, and yet I don't seem to be scared any more. On the tail of that thought is the realization that the Destruction God is siphoning off the emotion as it wells within me. Raw fear must be one of his favorite dishes. The glow from the creature is getting brighter. The light feels like it's searing my skin. I press myself against the invisible wall, trying to escape the heat. My eyes lock onto my brother's face. He's got his own eyes closed, a surprisingly peaceful expression on his face. There's a faint glow surrounding him, pure untainted white, just like his robes. I stare, fascinated. Something seemes to leave him, starting as the white glow collecting together, then taking on a more reconizable shape as it passes effortlessly through the wall seperating us. The form lands silently a mere foot away from me, and starts walking towards the Destruction God. It looks like a human, more of an outline, but becoming clearer as it nears the red-outlined God. Just before the spirit steps forward and embraces my soul God, I swear that it's Marron, dressed a little differently. The new spirit's white glow mingles with the red surrounding the Destruction God, and creates a brilliant flash, whiting out my vision. When I can see again, my God has taken on it's former whitish glow. Relief surges through me, and I slump against the wall. A second later, I hear a weak moan behind me, and spin to see my younger brother struggling to keep himself upright, leaning heavily on the barrier seperating us. His already pale skin is almost white, and his bright gold eyes are more of a dull, tarnished bronze. Immediately, I try to reach for him, slamming my hands into the seperating barrier in the process.   
"MARRON!" I scream, backing up a step and hurling myself at the wall. I don't know what he did a minute ago, but I'm certain that it saved our lives just now, and I will not just watch him die without trying to get to him, to help him. He's my brother, my own flesh and blood. After bouncing uselessly off the wall a few times, I resort to just pounding on it, screaming his name, cursing for all I'm worth, tears burning thick paths down my cheeks. The God pulses again. I raise my fists, moving to beat the wall again. It disintegrates as my hands come down, and I find myself instead catching Marron as he collapses. Wrapping my arms around him, I grip his too light body to my chest, feeling his shallow, panting breaths in rhythm with my own gasping pulls of air.   
"Brother...." he murmurs, bringing his arms, with difficulty, up around my waist. Almost hesitantly, I look down, straight into his fading yellow-gold eyes. What I saw there halts my breath in my chest. He's dying, and good God.... he knows it....   
Suddenly, I'm back in reality. The blue flames are gone, and I sense the others behind me and on my sides. Zaha stands in all his dark glory not a dozen yards away. A low moan catches my attention, and I'm suddenly aware of a too-light weight against my shoulder. A split second later, recognition catches up with me, and I just barely manage to grab my brother as he slumps off my shoulder, looping my arms around his waist as his head and upper body drop.   
"Marron?" I whisper, feeling tears well in my eyes. What happened in the dark cavern within my spirit happened out here. My little brother is dying. He raises his head a little, a faint, relieved smile curving the corners of his mouth.   
"My... my brother..." he breathes, before his head drops, and he goes completely limp. My eyes widen in silent horror.   
"No..." the word barely escapes past my lips, before I bury my face against my brother's chest. Voiceless sobs wrack my chest, and I mentally scream for the beat to return to the still heart under my cheek. Dimly, I hear Zaha speaking. I could care less what that bastard has to say. All I can hear is the pounding of my heart, and faintly, like a whispered memory, the final words of my last living blood family. Correction, _formerly_ living. The ground starts to rumble under my feet, and I hear Chocolate and the others exclaim in surprise. A tiny part of my rational mind wishes I'd heard what Zaha was saying. It might have helped better prepare me for the body-numbing horror a second later, when a solid, spear-shaped column of jewel-encrusted stone shoots up from the ground, cleanly spearing through Marron's chest, and lunging for the sky, tearing my little brother's body from my arms. The rock stops abruptly, and his limbs jerk violently with the sudden motion. I can only stare in numb shock. For one horrifying moment, before he turns to stone, before I hurl myself at the stone spear, screaming his name, I could have sworn his hand twitched. I squeeze my eyes shut, weakly pounding one fist on the rough surface. God, please tell me I imagined it. At the very least, let me _think_ he died without pain. Tears press against the insides of my eyelids. Before they can fall, I hear a voice, snide, cruel... _his_ voice. I snap my head up, carelessly rubbing the offending water from my eyes. Zaha stands patiently, waiting for me to run at him, seek my revenge. I'll give him what he wants. I'll gut that bastard like the stinking fish he is. And then... I'll search the seven heavens for my brother. The four hells too. I have lost my parents already in my short life. Death's _not_ taking my little brother from me as well.   
  
_ Well, that was heavy. I just couldn't get this bit out of my head, every time I watched _"Prelude to Ruin"_. Poor Carrot. N-E-aaaaaay... just in case anyone was wondering, I got the "seven heavens" bit from that old WB show _"Seventh Heaven"_. Anyone remember that show? I just liked how it sounded too. The "four hells" is a joke from my World Studies class, when in a one-act play, one of my partners banished me to the fourth hell. Yeah, it's stupid, but I thought it would be an interesting add-in. Catch ya later! Luv ya all!_   
-Maxy Steel 


End file.
